| Description : Following the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership launched in
Barcelona in 1995, the Mediterranean Union was founded during France's Presidency in 2008. The coin design by Philippe
Starck shows the year of issue "2008" and below it (in four lines) the theme "PRÉSIDENCE FRANÇAISE UNION
EUROPÉENNE" (French Presidency of the European Union). Below this is the country abbreviation "RF"
(République française, French Republic) and at the bottom left a cornucopia, the mint mark of the French
mint Monnaie de Paris in Pessac, and to the right a hunting horn with the sign of the zodiac for Pisces, the logo
of the acting mint master Hubert Larivière. On behalf of the European Commission, 5,000 copies of this
coin, coloured yellow throughout on the motif side, were produced in numbered blister packs and distributed to EU staff ‐
the first coloured euro circulation coins. A Commission Recommendation issued in 2010 reads "Member States should not
encourage, but tolerate, damage to euro coins for artistic purposes. Coins damaged in this way should be considered unfit
for circulation. |
